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OFFICIA^L COnriESFONI^ENOE 



OF 



BRIG. GEN. W. S. HARNEY, 



U. S. ARMY, ** 



AND 



FIRST LT. GEO. IHRIE, 



LATE U, S. ARMY, 



WITH THE 

• 



U. S, WAR DEPARTMENT, 



AND SUBSEQUENT 



I^ERSOISrA.L OOKKESFONDENCE. 



Co 



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u V 



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:1 RAV; 



Fort Vancouver, W. 1\, 1st Jh gust, 1S59. 
Sir: — Accompanying please find returns of companies " iJ" and "D," 
3d Artillery, for month of July, 1859. 

I desire to call the attention of the Lieutenant Colonel commandini^ the 
regiment, to the remarks op{)ostte the names of men furloughed by cx-post 
facto order of the General commanding this department, which ma]<es the 
monthly return of " D" company, and last muster roll, incorrect. 
I am. Sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

GEORGE IHRIE, 
First Lieut. 3d Artillery ,^ comcCg companies. 
1st Lieut. John C. Chandler, 

RegUAdft ^d Artillery, Presidio San Francisco, CaL 



HEADaUARTERS THIRD REGIMENT ARTILLERY. 

Presidio of San Francisco, Cal'a, Aiig. 17, 1859. 
Sir: I have the honor to furnish, for the information of the Adjutant 
General, the following extracts from the monthly returns of the companies 

of the regiment stationed at Fort Vancouver, for the month of July, 1859. 

* * * # # # 

The commander of company "B" reports privates Cassidy and 
Frainee, " absent with leave since July 23d and 25th, on furlough by 
order of General Harney, at work on private farm or residence of General 
Harney." The commander of company " D" reports privates Warkraan 
and Gleason on furlough in vicinity of post, the former since June 17, 
1859, the latter since June 25, 1859, reported on furlough, pursuant to 
instructions from the department of Oregon, dated July 23, 1859, " at 

work on privatte iarm or residence of General Harney." 

# * * •* * 

In addition, I respectfully enclose herewith a letter from the cornman- 
der'of "D", company, enclosing his return, and calling my attention to the 
remarks which I have herein taken from his return. 

These reports being irregular, I forward this information at this time, 
since the regimental returns ou which the same remarks will be transmitted, 
will not be prepared for two months or more. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

CHAS. S. MERCHANT, 

Ideut. Col. 3d Artillery. 
Col. S. Cooper, .(if JnnnjJfj.M.l io jioiin.ru U 
Adj. Gen. U. S.A., Washington, D. C. 



4 

REMARKS. 

Rcgularitjof transmission was, in this flagrant case, purposely sacrificed 
by me to " irregularity," for the purpose of stopping further abuse of 
authority. I only regret I did not, at the time, " irregularly" report to 
the Commander-in-Chief, Harney's use of United States transportation, 
in furtherance of his scheme of peculation. 

GEORGE IHRTE, 

Late United States Anny. 



Headquarters, Department of Oregon, 

Fort Vancouver y W. T., December 9 y 1859. 
Colonel : I have the honor to return Colonel Merchant's communica- 
tion and enclosure, with the following explanation, in connexion with the 
enclosed copies of letters from these headquarters to the commander of 

Fort Vancouver, dated July 23, and August 4, 1859. 

***** 

It is proper on this occasion to call the attention of the War Depart- 
ment to the three officers whose reports Colonel Merchant considers ir- 
regular. 

First Lieutenant George Ihrie, who temporarily commanded " B" and 
"D" companies, has since tendered his resignation, and I trust, for the 
honor of the service, it has been accepted. This resignation was hastened 
by the fact of an officer having testified before the general court-martial 
which assembled for the trial of First Lieutenant Lyman M. Kellog, 3d 
artillery, that he would not believe Lieutenant Ihrie under oath, in any 
matter in which he was at all interested. 

The general opinion of Lieutenant Ihrie's character, with those in the 
service who know him, is but little better than that above recorded. * * 
I am, Colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. S. HARNEY,. 
Brigadier General Commanding. 
Col. S. Cooper, 

Adj. Gen. U. S. A. Washington, D. C. 



St. Louis, Mo., Jahj 29, 1860. 
Col. S. Cooper, Adft Gen. U. S. A. 

Sir : In the " official correspondence of Brigadier General Harney re- 
lating to the affairs of the Department of Oregon," published by Congress, 
is a letter to you, dated December 9, 1859, containing the following state- 
ment in regard to me, viz : 

" I trust, for the honor of the service. Lieutenant Ihrie's resignation 
has been accepted. This resignation was hastened by the fact of an offi- 
cer having testified before the general court martial which assembled for 
the trial of First Lieutenant L. M. Kellogg, 3d artillery, that he would not 
believe Lieutenant Ihrie under oath, in any matter in which he was at all 
interested. The general opinion of Lieutenant Ihrie's character, with 



those in the service who know him, is but little better than that above 
recorded." 

It is my duty to contradict this malicious statement on your records. 
There is not a word of truth in it. 

In the first place, my resignation was not hastened by the testimony- 
referred to, of which I was entirely ignorant until nearly eight months 
after it was given, at which time I read it in Washington in General Har- 
ney's extraordinary letter. On the contrary, my resignation was delayed 
two months by my being suddenly, unexpectedly, and unnecessarily or- 
dered, by General Harney, in command of a battalion of the 3d Artillery, 
to Fort Steilacoom, W. T., en route for the island of San Juan, in dispute 
between the United States and England. 

In the second place, as I have since learned from an examination of the 
■ record of the court martial, the testimony is not what General Harney 
states it to be. What the witness said was this : he thought me " strongly 
and bitterly prejudiced against the accused; that he believed I had pre- 
ferred the charges out of malice ; and that he would not place reliance on 
my uncorroborated evidence against the accused.''^ 

But, even if that witness had testified that he thought me capable of a 
willful, interested false statement, as reported by General Harney, it was 
not a thing to give me the least concern. 

I had served at the same post with him but a very short time, and, 
during nearly all that period, had declined all social intercourse with him, - 
principally on account of his disgusting, drunken excesses. He admits, 
in his testimony, that he " had a misunderstanding with me ;" and, as he 
was the friend, the boon-companion and adviser of the officer then on trial 
for similar drunken and disgraceful conduct, and who has since been con- 
victed for the same, and cashiered, of course nothing could be of less con- 
sequence than his opinion of the merit of the prosecution and the -motive 
of the principal prosecuting witness. 

It was very foolish and reckless in General Harney to make the false 
statements he has made in this matter. 

Not satisfied with this willful and deliberate falsification of an official 
public record, he goes on to state to you his own opinion of me, and thus 
to offer his character against mine. I am, therefore, justifiable in remind- 
ing you that his character, particularly in the army, is anything but envi- 
able, being notorious for profanity, brutality, incompetency, peculation, 
recklessness, insubordination, tyranny and mendacity. 

In addition to this catalogue of vices and iniquities, I charge him with 
the murder, on the 26th day of June, 1834, in St. Louis, Missouri, of a 
female slave, named Hannah, whom, after first reducing, by starvation, to 
a state of emaciation and debility, he bruised and lacerated with a cow- 
hide to such a horrible and revolting degree of severity that she died the 
next day from the effects of the wounds and blows he had inflicted upon 
her person. 

For this diabolical murder he would then and there have been hung by 
the outraged citizens, but for his precipitate flight from the city. 

As it is, he is to-day, like many other favored and hardened criminals, 
indebted for his life to "the law's delay," able counsel, a change of venue, 



and other appliances, as potent and influential then, as now, in defrauding 
the gallows of its legitimate prey. 

I assert nothing I cannot prove. The archives of your department 
and his status at the headquarters of the army, where he is best anU well 
known, will corroborate what I have written concerning his reputation, 
particularly in the army; and, lest any generous acquaintimce should be 
unwilling to credit the last grave and serious change, I here insert a cer- 
tified transcript of the oiKcial record of the criminal court of St. Louis 

county in the case of" State of Missouri vs. William S. Harney, 

murder:" 

( Transcript from St. Louis County.) 

" State of Missouri, } 
^^Cou nil/ of Franklin, ^ 

" Be it remembered that a circuit court, begun and held at the city of 
St. Louis, within and for the county of St. Louis, in the third judicial cir- 
cuit of the State of Missouri, on the fourth Monday of July, being the 
twenty eighth day of said month, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and thirty-four, before the Honorable Luke E. Lawless, 
judge of said court. The grand inquest of the State of Missouri for the 
body of the county of St. Louis aforesaid, sworn and charged to inquire 
for the body of the county of St. Louis, returned into said court an indict- 
ment against William S. Harney for murder, which said indictment is in 
the words and figures following, to wit: 

ij;. ■ . 

^^( Indictment.) 



" State of Missouri, 
" County of St. Louis, 



set. 



'' In the Circuit Court, July terra, A. D. 1834. 

'■ "The grand jurors of the State of Missouri, impaneled, sworn, and 
charged to inquire for the body of the county of St. Louis, upon their 
oath jiresent that William S. Harney, late of said county, not having the 
fear of Cod before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instiga- 
tion of the devil, on the twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord 
one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, with force and arms, at the 
county aforesaid, in and upon one Hannah, a slave, in the peace of God 
then and there being, feloniously, willfully, and of his malice aforethought, 
did make an assault, and that the said William S. Harney, with a cer- 
tain cowhide of the value of twenty-five cents, which he, the said WiJliam 
S. Harney, in his right hand then and there had and held, the said Han- 
nah in and upon the head, stomach, sides, back, arms, and legs of her, 
the said Hannah, then and there feloniously', willfully, and of his malice 
aforethought, did strike, beat, bruise, and cut, giving to the said Hannah 
then and there, with the cowhide aforesaid, in and upon the head, stom- 
ach, sides, back, arms, and legs of her, the said Hannah, several mortal 
bruises, of which said several mortal lyuises the said Hannah, from the 
said twenty-sixth day of Jurie, in the year aforesaid, until the twenty- 



seventh day of the same month, in the year aforesaid, at the county afore- 
said, did languish, and languishing did live, on which twenty-seventh day 
of June, in the year aforesaid, the said Hannah, at the county aforesaid, of 
the said mortal bruises died ; and so the jurors aforesaid, upon their oath 
aforesaid, do say that the said William S. Harney, the said Hannah, in 
manner and form aforesaid, feloniously, willfully, and of his malice afore- 
thought, did kill and murder, contrary to the form of the statute in such 
case, and made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the 
State. 

"BEVERLY ALLEN, Circuit Attorney:' 
And on the said indictment is an endorsement made by the foreman of 
the said grand jury, as follows, to wit : 

'■^ (Endorsement.) 
*«A true bill. 

« JABEZ WARNER, foreman:' 

Here follow four separate and distinct legal forms of a capias and alias 
capias from the clerk of the court, " commanding " the sheriff " to take 
William S. Harney, if he be found in his county, and bring him before the 
judge of the court to answer to an indictment for murder :" on the three 
first of which the sheriff returns : " William S. Harney not found in my 
county." 

After the fourth alias capias was issued the following entry was made 
on the records of the said court, to wit : 

"In vacation, clerk's office of the St. Louis Circuit Court, Wednesday, 
5th November, 1834. ,•; 

" (Application for change of venue.) 

"The State of Missouri, ') 

' vs. > Murder. 

" William S. Harney. ) 

" To Beverly Allen, 

" Circuit attorney within and for the third judicial circuit.: '"' "^^'^ 
"Sir: Take notice ibat on Monday, the 10th instant, between" 'th'^ 
hours of nine in the forenoon and six in the afternoon I will apply to the 
judge of the St. Louis Circuit Court at his residence for a change of venue 
in a certain cause now pending in said court for indictment for murder, on 
account of the prejudice of the inhabitants of said county. 

"W. S. HARNEY. 
" St. Louis, JYovember 4, 1834." 

* * * * * » • # 

"To the honorable the judge of the Circuit Court of the county of St. 
Louis the petition of William S. Harney respectfully represents : 

"That there is now pending, in the Circuit Court of St. Louis county, 
an indictment against your petitioner for murder, on which he has been 
arrested and is now in custody to answer the said charge, and that the 
inhabitants of said county are so prejudiced against him that he cannot 



8 

have a fair trial ; "wherefore he prays that the venue may be changed to 
sorae county in which a fair trial may be had according to the foira of the 
statute in such case made and provided. 

"W. S. HARNEY. 
" Sworn to and subscribed before me this, the 4th day of November, 
1834. PATRICK WALSH, 

^^ Justice of the Peace.^ 



?> 



" ( Venue changed to Franklin County.) 

" Being satisfied of the truth of the statement contained in the within 
petition of W. S. Harney, it is hereby ordered that the venue in said case 
of the State of Missouri vs. W. S. Harney be changed from the county of 
St. Louis, in the 3d judicial circuit, 1o the county of Franklin, in the 6th 
judicial circuit of the State of Missouri. 

" Given under my hand this 5th day of November, 1834- 

;;;';, "l. e. lawless, 

" Judge Bd Judicial Circuit. 

" State of Missouri, > 
** County of St. LouiSy ) 

"I, Archibald Gamble, clerk of the Circuit Court for the county of St. 
Louis, in the State of Missouri, do certify that the above and foregoing 
is a true transcript of the record and proceedings in the case of the State 
of Missouri against William S. Harney on an indictment for muider, as 
the same now remains of record in my office. 

" In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the 
seal of the said court at ray office in the city of St. Louis, county 
[l. s.] and State aforesaid, this eighth day of November, in the year one 
thousand eight hundred and thirty-four. • 

" (Signed) ARCHIBALD GAMBLE, Clerk.'' 

I would respectfully request, in justice to myself, that this communica 
tion be placed on file with the " official correspondence of General Harney 
i^jating to the affairs of the Department of Oregon. V 
.„ I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

GEORGE IHRIE, late U. S. Army, 



REMARKS. 

Harney was accordingly tried for murder on the 24th of March, 1S35, 
nine months after the horrible deed was committed, and was acquitted. 
Considering his position in the army, the lubricating influences of the oil 
of gold, the experience of his lawyers, and the long time that elapsed be- 
fore a trial could be had, the result could hardly have been otherwise. 

The records of the Criminal Court of St. Louis county also contain sev- 
eral indictments against Harney for assault and battery. 



On reading the above letter to a brevet major of the army, he interrupted 
me at a certain passage by saying, " you might, with equal correctness, 
have added cowai'dice to your catalogue of delinquencies." I replied, " I 
have heard several officers express their belief in his utter lack of courage, 
and intended to test it the first favorable opportunity ; that this letter was 
to place me right on the records of the War Department, and I would 
ultimately right myself before the public." 

GEORGE IHRIE, late U. S. A. 



January 12, 1861. 
To Brigadier General William S. Harney, U. S. A. 

Sir: Will you have the kindness to designate a place outside the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, and the time where and when additional correspondence 
may pass between us. 

This will be handed you by lion. J. Richard Barret, of St. Louis. 

Respectfully, 
(Signed) GEORGE IHRIE. 



Washington, D. C, January 15, 1861. 
To Mr. George Thrie. 

Sir: Your note of the 12th instant has been handed me by tiie Hon. J. 
Richard Barret. 

In reply to that note, I have to inform you I cannot recognize any claim 
on your part to make the requests you have advanced, and 1 therefore de- 
cline to accede to them. 

Your obedient servant, 

(Signed)' WM. S. HARNEY. 



Washington, D. C, January 17, 1861. 
To Brigadier General William S. Harney, U. S. A. 

Sir: The offensive reflections contained in your official letter to Lieu- 
tenant De Hart, U. S. A., dated 30th July, 1859, were equally insulting 
to m.e, inasmuch as I took position with him in his opposition to your 
official course as commanding officer of the Department of Oregon, con- 
cerning your ex post facto furloughing of certain enlisted men of the army. 

Subsequently, in an official communication to the War Department, 
dated 9th December, 1859, you made use of language even more insulting 
to me. 

These insults, thus deliberately given, were rendered the more poig- 
nant, by reason of the inequality of our military rank. 

Upon hearing of your arrival in the east^ from Oregon, I addressed you 
from Binghampton, N. Y. under date of iSth August, 1860, informing 
you of my intention to seek the first favorable opportunity to hold you per- 
sonally accountable. 



10 

Accordingly, upon your recent arrival in this city, I caused to be deliv- 
ered to you my note of the 12th instant. 

You could not have forgotten the insults given, especially after the let- 
ter warning you of my intention : yet, in your reply of the 16th instant, 
delivered to me the same day by Captain Rufus Ingalls, U. S. A., while 
you seem fully lo apprehend ray meaning, you inform me you cannot recog- 
nize any chiim on my part to request you to meet me outside the District, 
and you therefore decline. 

This is not the first time you have been guilty of a malicious and insult- 
ing personal attack, and declined giving the redress demanded. A note 
of similar import was received by you on a former occasion from an officer 
of the army, high in rank, and you not only refused his invitation, but 
arraigned and prosecuted him before a court martial. 

I therefore feel justified in now presenting you to the world as a wilful 
calumniator and an arrant coward. 

(Signed) GEORGE IHRIE, late First Lieutenant, 

3d RegH U. S. Artillery. 



The following correspondence is necessary, as having an important 
bearing upon the issue : 

Fort Vancouver, W. T., July 24, 1859. 

Captain : On the 23d of this month I received a communication from 
the adjutant's office at this post, directing me to report certain men, soldiers 
of'M," company, 3d regiment of Artillery, which I command, on furlough. 

I immediately addressed an official note to the post adjutant, requesting 
that the commanding officer might furnish me at his earliest convenience 
with the data necessary to make out their furlough papers, a copy of which 
you will find enclosed. My object in this communication is to appeal to 
department headquarters against a compliance with the order above refer- 
red to, which I do, direct to the headquarters of the department, without 
referring the matter to the commanding officer of the post. 

As the order stated, he was acting pursuant to instructions received from 
those headquarters. 

I make this appeal for the following reasons, viz : 

1. The soldiers named in the order have not applied for furlough, and, 
consequently, it is to be supposed they do not desire it. 

2. The order directs that the furlough of two of the men mentioned 
shall be dated back to certain and specified days of last month ; one to be 
borne on furlough from the 11th of June, and the other from the 17th, 
thereby requiring me to represent the last muster-roll of "M" company, 
already forwarded to Washington, as incorrect: those men being thereon 
borne as on extra duty in the quartermaster's department. 

3. The order is in direct violation of paragraph 182, Array Regulations 
of 1857, which explicitly says, that furloughs to enlisted men " will be 
granted only by commandino- officers of posts, or of regiments, when 
actually quartered with them." ;; 

4. That the effect of the order is to make the position of commanding 
officer of a company a mere nominal one, taking away from him entirely 



11 

the control and command of his company, and depriving him of the privi- 
lege even of saying whether a rhan does or does not deserve a furlough ; 
thus destroying the relation bei^yeeen the soldier and the comuiandino- 
officer of his company, so necessafy to the preservation of its discipline, 
which requires ihat all papers givii,ig indulgences in the shape of leaves of 
absence and furloughs be signed and approved by him before being for- 
warded to the commanding olHcer c^f the post. 

5. That these men being placed on furlough at this time, and the com- 
pany having just commenced its system of target practice, to which parti- 
cular attention was called by a deparanent order, they will lose the entire 
benefit of it. 

For the above reasons I respectfiJily request that the general command- 
ing the department may instruct oe commanding officer of this post to 
rescind his order to me, placing thv.se men, soldiers of company "M," 3d 
regiment of artillery, on furlough. 

Hoping you will lay this befo'-^ the general at your earliest convenience, 
and that it may meet his favora'.ile consideration, 

I am, sir, very respectfully, ^our obedient servant, 

H. V. DE HART, 
1st Lieut. 3c J Ir tiller y, Commanding Company "JVf." 

A. Pleasonton, 

Captain 2d Dmgoof^^,^^^ct^g Jissist. Adjt. Gen. 



REMARKS. 

Although in command of "B" Co., 3d Artillery, the day this appeal 
was written and forwarded, and wishing to sign it, I was restrained by 
the fact that the permanent commander of the Co. (then absent at Fort 
Dallas, on a court-martial,) was to be absent but four or five days. 

I publicly endorsed it, however, as a vigorous, just and proper appeal, 
and suggested the necessity of forwarding it to Head Quarters. 

GEORGE IHRIE, 

Late U. S. A. 



Headquarters Department of Oregon, 

Fort Vancouver, W. T. July 30, 1859. 

Sir : The general commanding instructs me to return the enclosed 
communication to Lieutenant De Hart, of the 3d artillery, through the 
commander of Fort Vancouver. 

Lieutenant E^; Hart, in transmitting this communication to these head- 
quart^i-s with his endorsement of the 29th instant, is guilty of the violation 
of the 44lst paragraph of the General Regulations, which is rendered the 
more culpable by his impertinent and disrespectful letter to his superior, 
officer, the general commanding. • 

Ignorance and inexperience acompanying modesty are strong palliatives 
in the commission of error, but connected with a vain conceit which puts 
aside in its blindness the rules and regulations by which it affects to be 



12 

guided, serve to magnify the confusion and offence of the acts committed 
under their influence, and to render error criminal. 

The commanding is pleased to con^«;ider the limited service of three 
years of Lieutenant De Hart, and is indisposed to visit his conduct with 
the severity it merits. It is hoped, therefore, this admonition will be suffi- 
cient warning to him for the future, and that in his zeal to establish for himself 
a reputation as a good officer he will not commence his career by prov- 
ing the reverse. 

The commanding officer of Fort Vancouver is directed not to transmit 
hereafter to these headquarters any oommunication that is not couched in 
proper and respeatful language in respect to manner, and without stric- 
tures or animadversion upon any a .ts emanating from this or higher 
authority. 

A copy of this communication will be furnished Lieutenant De Hart. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

A. PLEAS ANTON, 
Captain 2d Di, 'goons ^ A. Ji. Adjt, General. 
Commanding Officer, 

Fort Vancouver, W, T. js 



REMARKS. 

Approving, as I did, Lieut. De Hnrt's appeal, I too could not but feel 
indignant and outraged at these insulting strictures upon, and sneers at, its 
writer. 

GEORGE IHRIE, 

Late r. S. A. 



Head Quarters Department of Oregon, 

Fort Vancouver, W. T., Dec. 9//i, 1859. 
Colonel : I havethe honor to return Colonel Merchant's communication 

and enclosure, with the following explanation. 

# # * * # * ♦ 

The third officer referred to by Colonel Merchant is First Lieutenant 
Henry V. De Hart, who only reported for duty in this department on 
the lOth day of July last, and was placed in arrest on the 31st of that 
month. 

The short space of twenty days was sufficient for Lieutenant De Hart 
to develop his character. » 

He began by writing an impertinent and disrespectful communication 
to his commander, myself, which was returned to him three times by my 
•orders, for which he insulted my staff officer, Captain Pleasonton, attemp- 
ting to hold him responsible for my acts, and charging him with shielding 
himself behind his official position after insulting him. 

Charges have been duly preferred against Lieutenant De Hart for this 
conduct, and were submitted to the War Department for its action. 
Nothing since has been heard from them ; but on the arrival of Lieutenant 



13 



General Scott, he informed me the charges would not be entertained by 
the War Departm«int, and requested me to release Lieutenant De Hart 
from arrest. 

I replied to the general-in-chief, through his staff officer, that T could 
not consent to the release of Lieutenant De Hart, as it would be impossible 
for me to maintain discipline if such outrageous conduct was permitted to 
pass unnoticed. 

The general-in-chief then gave mea peremptory order to release Lieutenant 

De Hart from arrest. 

* * * * # « 

I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. S. HARNEY, 

Brigadier General^ Commanding. 
Colonel S. Cooper, 

Adjutant General^ U. S. Jlrmy^ Washington City, D. C. 



REMARKS 

On Brigadier General Harney's letter to the Secretary of War, dated 
December 9, 1859, which the Secretary has courteously caused to be 
sent to me, evidently against the wishes and expectations of the writer. 

This act of the Secretary, with the rebuke that went direct from him to 
Brigadier General H., on the 7lh instant, may, it is hoped, somewhat 
disabuse the latter of the besotted notion that he and his principal staff 
officer will be supported at Washington, no matter what blunder either of 
them may officially commit. 

At the foot of page 3 the brigadier general says that I had informed 
him his charges against Lieutenant De Hart " would not be entertained 
by the War Department." This is an error with a motive. What I did 
say, or authorized Lieutenant Colonel Thomas to say in my behalf, was 
simply this : that from some slight allusion to the charges against Lieu- 
tenant De H., volunteered by the acting Secretary of War, in conversa- 
tion with me at my last visit to Washington, I thought it doubtful whether 
a court would be ordered for the trial of the lieutenant on those charges ; 
and in the meantime, as the lieutenant's services were needed, I wished 
the brigadier general to suspend the arrest, and to have the credit of doino- 
a generous act. But this was not to his taste, which satisfied me that his 
object was not discipline, but vengeance. Hence I ordered the suspension 
myself, and added, expressly, in the order, that in case the War Depart- 
ment should appoint a court for the trial of the lieutenant, his arrest could 
then be renewed. Indeed, from the beginning I was surprised that the 
prosecutor should desire to place his charges before a court, as, to me, it 
appeared certain that the accused would not be the greater suffisrer by an 
investigation. 
******* 

In the several quotations from the letter in question, it is plainly seen 
why the letter was clandestinely sent (over my head) to Washington, 
against the prescribed and indispensable rules of military correspondence. 



14 

In dismissing this most nauseating subject, I beg' permission to add, 
that the highest obligations of my station compel me to suggest a doubt 
whither it be safe in respect to our foreign relations, or just to the gallant 
officers and men in Oregon departme^it, to leave them longer, at so great 
a distance, subject to the ignorance, passion, and caprice of the present 
headquarters of that department. 

Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War. 

ilj'biri) 

WINFIELD SCOTT. 

New York, February 14, 1860. 



Adjutant General's Office, 

Washington, February 7, 1860. 

Sir: The Secretary of War has considered your application to bring 
Lieutenant De Hrirt to a court-martial, and General Scott's order to you 
to release him from arrest. 

The Secretary perceives that the lieutenant has commited a grave breach 
of discipline in assuming to make any personal demand on your staff officer 
respecting your orders. But he must agree with the general-in chief that 
the lieutenant had good cause to complain of the orders without he had 
not merited censure, and that your reprimand was not in a proper style. 
The Secretary regrets to be compelled to express his disapprobation of it, 

and he does not see that he can reverse the decision of the general-in-chief. 

jif « * * * * 

I am, very repectfuUy, your obedient servant, 

S. COOPER, 

Adjutant General. 
Brig. Gen. W. S. Harney, 

U. S. Jlrmy, Commanding Department of Oregon, 

Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory. 



REMAIfKS. 

■ It is to be remembered this man Floyd was the personal and political 
friend of Harney; who, but for the protests of an officer of the Army, 
would have proven a pliant tool in Floyd's nefarious attempt to swindle 
the U. S. out of a large and valuable portion of the Fort Leavenworth 
Reserve. 

And yet, notwithstanding Floyd " regrets" he is compelled to adminis- 
ter a water-gruel reprimancl, Harney has lately been denouncing, in pres- 
ence of officers of the Army, his old friend as "a damned scoundrel, who, 
but for him, would have been impeached." ...u n. 

GEORGE IHRIE, 

Late U. S. Jinny. 



15 

Endorsements of the Commander-in-chief upon a similar appeal of 
another gallant and meritorious officer who was arrested, and against whom 
charges were preferred, by Harney. 

May 10, 1860. 

I solicit the Secretary's close attention to this case. I am greatly mis- 
taken if an instance of tyranny so useless and vexatious ever occurred in 
our army before. * * * * * * 

It is nowhere stated in what particular the letter was deemed disrespect- 
ful ; perhaps in omitting before the name of the staff officer the prefix cap- 
tain. In everything else Lieutenant Hodges was courteous and respect- 
ful. Is it not intolerable despotism that for such slight and probably 
accidental omission the gallant adjutant of the 4th infantry and intelli- 
gent judge advocate of a general court-martial, should be put into close 
confinement, like a felon, for months, and denied all communication with 
higher authority ? 

I trust that a court may be refused, and, but for application to the Sec- 
retary for one, I should instantly order Lieutenant Hodges to be relieved 
from arrest. 

Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War. 

WINFIELD SCOTT. 

p. S. — I ought to add that there have been more arrests by Brigadier Gen- 
eral Harney and his immediate friends since he has been on %e Pacific than 
perhaps ever occurred before in twice the number of troops in the same 
time. ^ 

W. S. 



I am aware that Lieutenant Hodges has been released from arrest, and 
it is hoped some redress may be accorded to him for an act of stupid out- 
rage which has never been surpassed even in the Turkish army. 

Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War. 

WINFIELD SCOTT. 



Adjutant General's Office, 

Washington, May 18, 1860. 
General ; Your letter of the 4th ultimo, transmiting charges and specifi- 
cations against First Lieutenant Henry C. Hodges, adjutant 4th infantry, 
is received ; also an appeal by him to General Scott. 

The Secretary does not, from the papers submitted by you, see that the 
lieutenant has committed any offence, and therefore directs that he be dis- 
charged from arrest until the further order of the department. 

I have the honor to be, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

E. D. TOWNSEND, 

Assistant Adjutant {general. 
Brigadier General W. S. Harney, 

U. S. Army, Commanding Department of Oregon, 

Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, 



16 

CONCLUSION. 

Notwithstanding the strong provocation, I have not written a tithe of 
what I have learned, from undoubted authorities in St. Louis and this city, 
concerning Harney's private character, commencing many years ago with 
his " Shakesperlan pursuits" in New Orleans. 

Respect for his dead, — regard for the feelings of his living, — prevents i 
me lifting the veil from a chapter of his life, which, if known, should make 
him abhorred among men. 

I am conscious of contending against omnipotent wealth, the eclat of 
high military rank, and powerful political partizans, whose tenure of office, 
thank God ! expires to-day ; but I have a right, it becomes my duty, to 
impeach the character for veracity and integrity of an irresponsible and 
craven-hearted assailant. 

For what I have written, I hold myself personally accountable : or, to 
use the language of the gallant and chivalric Sumner, in reply to a field- 
officer of Dragoons who unofficially waited on him to know whether or not 
he would fight Harney, " I will meet him in ten minutes, or in ten years." 

Several officers of the Army, for whom I entertain feelings of respect 
and esteem, have suggested to me " to let this matter drop ; — not out of 
any respect for Harney, but to keep these Army quarrels from before Con- 
gress and the public." 

Were the " matter" confined to the Records of the War Department 
alone, I should have reluctantly complied with their wishes ; but as it 
has become part and parcel of the archives of Congress, and my official 
defence has been unjustly and unaccountably withheld therefrom, to the 
surprise and indignation of friends in and out of that honorable body, 
justice to myself and them demands this publication. 

Whether or not it is to rest here, is to me a subject of profound indiffer- 
ence. 

«' For time at last sets all things even — 
And if we do but watch the hour, 
There never yet was human power 
Which could evade, if unforgiven, 
The patient search and vigil long 
Of him who treasures up a wrong." 

GEORGE IHRIE, 
Late 1st U. 3d RegH U. S. Artillery. 
Washington, D. C, 4th March, 1861. 



LB M70 



